Wednesday, July 13, 2011

It's been a few months since posting an episode of the History of Rugby documentary, so while there's a bit of a quiet period after Super Rugby and before everything else, it's as good a time as any to continue with it.

As you know by now, Super Rugby came to an end this past weekend as the Reds beat the Crusaders in a brilliant final in Brisbane. There's no let up for some of the guys that took part though, as this weekend the Wallabies will be facing the might of Samoa, fresh from their participation in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.

Elsewhere, the fiercely competitive Currie Cup kicks off in South Africa, while in New Zealand their entertaining domestic competition, the ITM Cup, gets under way tomorrow.

So while many of you up north might feel like the rugby season is over, it's anything but, and we'll continue to cover the best bits here on RD.

For now though, the History of Rugby documentary continues from where it left off, as we get to see the Springboks emerge from the wilderness in in the early nineties. We then get a run-down of England successes through that time period, leading up to the 1994 Five Nations, which Wales won. The following year France scored a brilliant try against England in the Championship, but weren't successful overall.

The 1995 Rugby World Cup was a famous win for the Springboks in their first ever tournament, with Nelson Mandela, Kitch Christie, and Francois Pienaar doing incredible things for the country, both on and off the field.

Professionalism followed the tournament, and by the 1999 Rugby World Cup, rugby was a slightly different game. Jonah Lomu, who was years ahead of the sport, made massive impacts in both 95 and 99, particularly against England.

From this point in the documentary, things do become quite England-centric, so if you're not a fan, you'll need to take it with a pinch of salt as obviously it's England made, so they become the predominant focus. It's still very interesting though, and a good look back at what happened all those years back. Enjoy.